Sentence Repetition Tasks to Detect and Prevent Language Difficulties: A Scoping Review.

Sentence repetition tasks (SRTs) have been widely used in language development research for decades. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in studying performance in SRTs as a clinical marker for language impairment. What are the characteristics of SRTs? For what purposes have SRTs been used? To what extent have they been used with young children, in different languages, and with different clinical populations? In order to answer these and other questions, we conducted a scoping review. Peer reviewed studies published in indexed scientific journals (2010-2021) were analyzed. A search in different databases yielded 258 studies. Research published in languages other than English or Spanish, adult samples, dissertations, case studies, artificial models, and theoretical publications were excluded. After this exclusion, 203 studies were analyzed. Our results show that most research using SRT were conducted with English monolingual speakers older than 5 years of age; studies with bilingual participants have mostly been published since 2016; and SRTs have been used with several non-typical populations. Research suggests that they are a reliable tool for identifying language difficulties and are specifically suitable for detecting developmental language disorder.

A Sentence Repetition Task for Early Language Assessment in Spanish.

Sentence repetition tasks have been widely used in the last years as a diagnostic tool in developmental language disorders. However in Spanish there are few (if any) of these instruments, especially for younger children. In this context, we develop a new Sentence Repetition Task for assessing language (morphosyntactic) abilities of very young Spanish children. A list of 33 sentences of different length and complexity was created and included in the task. A total of 130 typical developing children from 2 to 4 years of age were engaged in a play situation and asked to repeat the sentences. Children's answers were scored for accuracy at sentence and word level and error analysis at the word level was undertaken. Besides a subsample of 92 children completed a non-word repetition task. First results show its adequacy to children from 2 to 4 years of age, its capacity to discriminate between different developmental levels, and its concurrent validity with the nonword repetition task.

A sentence repetition task for early language assessment in Spanish

Sentence repetition tasks have been widely used in the last years as a diagnostic tool in developmental language disorders. However in Spanish there are few (if any) of these instruments, especially for younger children. In this context, we develop a new Sentence Repetition Task for assessing language (morphosyntactic) abilities of very young Spanish children. A list of 33 sentences of different length and complexity was created and included in the task. A total of 130 typical developing children from 2 to 4 years of age were engaged in a play situation and asked to repeat the sentences. Children's answers were scored for accuracy at sentence and word level and error analysis at the word level was undertaken. Besides a subsample of 92 children completed a non-word repetition task. First results show its adequacy to children from 2 to 4 years of age, its capacity to discriminate between different developmental levels, and its concurrent validity with the nonword repetition task

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Word and Nonword Repetition Abilities in Spanish Language: Longitudinal Evidence from Typically Developing and Late Talking Children.

This longitudinal study examined the early word and nonword repetition abilities of monolingual Spanish speaking children. We explored the role that word status, word length, and time play in repetition performance of children with different vocabulary levels. We also examined the predictive value of vocabulary level in repetition abilities. Thirty-seven children participated in this study: 15 late talkers and 22 typically developing children. Families completed the Spanish version of the MacArthur Communicative Developmental Inventory (MCDI) at age 2; children performed a word and nonword repetition task at three different moments, with a temporal interval of 6 months between Time 1 and Time 2, and eight months between Time 2 and Time 3, periods during which linguistic development takes place. We found significant effects for word status, word length, vocabulary level and time: words are repeated better than nonwords; one syllable items are easier to repeat than two and three syllable ones; the performance of late talking children is lower compared to typically developing children throughout the study; and repetition abilities improve longitudinally. In addition, early vocabulary level predicts subsequent repetition abilities and early nonword repetition abilities predict future nonword repetition performance.

Word and nonword repetition abilities in Spanish language: longitudinal evidence from typically developing and late talking children

This longitudinal study examined the early word and nonword repetition abilities of monolingual Spanish speaking children. We explored the role that word status, word length, and time play in repetition performance of children with different vocabulary levels. We also examined the predictive value of vocabulary level in repetition abilities. Thirty-seven children participated in this study: 15 late talkers and 22 typically developing children. Families completed the Spanish version of the MacArthur Communicative Developmental Inventory (MCDI) at age 2; children performed a word and nonword repetition task at three different moments, with a temporal interval of 6 months between Time 1 and Time 2, and eight months between Time 2 and Time 3, periods during which linguistic development takes place. We found significant effects for word status, word length, vocabulary level and time: words are repeated better than nonwords; one syllable items are easier to repeat than two and three syllable ones; the performance of late talking children is lower compared to typically developing children throughout the study; and repetition abilities improve longitudinally. In addition, early vocabulary level predicts subsequent repetition abilities and early nonword repetition abilities predict future nonword repetition performance (AU)

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The relationship between early lexical and grammatical development in Spanish: evidence in children with different linguistic levels.

This study analyzes the relationship between lexical and grammatical development in Spanish children. The (European) Spanish version of the MacArthur-Bates CDI was used and administered to 593 Spanish-speaking children between the ages of 16 and 30-months-old. Regression analysis was applied to evaluate the relationship between age, vocabulary (total vocabulary, nouns, and verbs) and grammatical scores on two subsections of the Grammar Part. Total vocabulary explained a significantly greater proportion of variance in grammatical outcomes than age did. However, noun and verb vocabularies did not explain a greater proportion of variance in their respective morphologies than total vocabulary did. Additionally, the predictive relationship between vocabulary and grammar was found to be weaker for children whose scores were below the 10th percentile, although this could be due to the minor variability in this group and to extreme cases. We discuss the implications of these results in relation to the question of continuity between early vocabulary and grammar development in children.

The relationship between early lexical and grammatical development in Spanish: evidence in children with different linguistic levels

This study analyzes the relationship between lexical and grammatical development in Spanish children. The (European) Spanish version of the MacArthur-Bates CDI was used and administered to 593 Spanish-speaking children between the ages of 16 and 30-months-old. Regression analysis was applied to evaluate the relationship between age, vocabulary (total vocabulary, nouns, and verbs) and grammatical scores on two subsections of the Grammar Part. Total vocabulary explained a significantly greater proportion of variance in grammatical outcomes than age did. However, noun and verb vocabularies did not explain a greater proportion of variance in their respective morphologies than total vocabulary did. Additionally, the predictive relationship between vocabulary and grammar was found to be weaker for children whose scores were below the 10th percentile, although this could be due to the minor variability in this group and to extreme cases. We discuss the implications of these results in relation to the question of continuity between early vocabulary and grammar development in children (AU)

En este estudio se analiza la relación entre el desarrollo léxico y gramatical en niños españoles. La versión española de los Inventarios MacArthur-Bates fue administrada a 593 niños de 16 a 30 meses de edad. Se aplicaron análisis de regresión para evaluar la relación entre la edad, el vocabulario (total, nominal y verbal) y las puntuaciones en dos sub-secciones del apartado gramatical. El vocabulario total explica una proporción significativamente mayor de la varianza de las puntuaciones gramaticales que la edad. Sin embargo, los vocabularios parciales, nominal y verbal, no explican proporciones significativamente mayores de la varianza de sus puntuaciones en morfología, que la edad. Por otro lado, la capacidad de predicción del vocabulario sobre la gramática resulta menor en los niños cuyas puntuaciones los sitúan por debajo del percentil 10; sin embargo, este resultado puede atribuirse a la menor variabilidad y a casos extremos hallados en este grupo. Se discuten las implicaciones de todo este conjunto de resultados en relación a la hipótesis de continuidad entre el vocabulario y la gramática en el desarrollo temprano (AU)

Early acquisition of gender agreement in the Spanish noun phrase: starting small.

Nativist and constructivist accounts differ in their characterization of children's knowledge of grammatical categories. In this paper we present research on the process of acquisition of a particular grammatical system, gender agreement in the Spanish noun phrase, in children under three years of age. The design of the longitudinal study employed presents some variations in relation to classical studies. The aim was to obtain a large corpus of NP data which would allow different types of analysis of the children's productions to be carried out. Intra-individual variability in early NP types was analyzed and measured, and an elicitation task for adjectives was used. Results show that the acquisition of NP and gender agreement is a complex process which advances as the children gradually integrate different pieces of evidence: phonological, distributional and functional. The reduction of variability as the grammatical process advances is a key feature for its explanation.

La evaluación del desarrollo comunicativo y lingüístico mediante la versión española de los inventarios MacArthur-Bates / Evaluation of communicative and linguistic development using the Spanish version of the MacArthur-Bates inventories

Los inventarios MacArthur-Bates son un instrumento de validez y fiabilidad probada para la evaluación de las habilidades comunicativas y lingüísticas entre los 8 y los 30 meses hasta el punto de que han sido adaptados a numerosas lenguas. En este artículo se presenta la adaptación al español de estos Inventarios. Se describe su estructura, las innovaciones incluidas en la versión española, su proceso de baremación y se presentan algunos resultados del análisis de los datos obtenidos a partir de una muestra de 1.150 niños de toda España. Finalmente, se resaltan las ventajas y limitaciones que tiene su uso. En el contexto del desarrollo de la comunicación y el lenguaje antes de los tres años apenas se cuenta en el panorama editorial español con pruebas de evaluación con las suficientes garantías científicas. Esta versión española de los inventarios MacArthur-Bates constituye una aportación en relación a la posible detección temprana de retrasos o trastornos del desarrollo del lenguaje y el seguimiento de estos casos (AU)

The MacArthur-Bates Inventories are a valid and reliable method for assessing communicative and linguistic skills in infants (8-15 months) and young children (16-30 months), and have been adapted to many languages. This paper presents their adaptation to Spanish. Structure, innovations included in the Spanish version, and the standardisation process are described, and some results obtained from the analysis of a sample of 1150 children are presented. The advantages and limitations of the use of parental report inventories are highlighted. For children before three years of age, there are very few assessment tools of language and communicative development with sufficient guarantees produced and edited in Spain. The Spanish version of the MacArthur-Bates Inventories represents an important contribution for early identification of language delays or disorders, and for follow-up of these cases (AU)

[Evaluation of communicative and linguistic development using the Spanish version of the MacArthur-Bates inventories]. / La evaluación del desarrollo comunicativo y lingüístico mediante la versión española de los inventarios MacArthur-Bates.

The MacArthur-Bates Inventories are a valid and reliable method for assessing communicative and linguistic skills in infants (8-15 months) and young children (16-30 months), and have been adapted to many languages. This paper presents their adaptation to Spanish. Structure, innovations included in the Spanish version, and the standardisation process are described, and some results obtained from the analysis of a sample of 1150 children are presented. The advantages and limitations of the use of parental report inventories are highlighted. For children before three years of age, there are very few assessment tools of language and communicative development with sufficient guarantees produced and edited in Spain. The Spanish version of the MacArthur-Bates Inventories represents an important contribution for early identification of language delays or disorders, and for follow-up of these cases.